


Safe Keeping

by Ysabetwordsmith



Category: Schrodinger's Heroes, The Avengers (2012), The Incredible Hulk (2008), The Incredible Hulk - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Bruce has a horrible backstory, Cuddling & Snuggling, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Quantum Mechanics, Safe Ending, Science, Science Bros, Science Fiction, Team as Family, Teamwork, help that is helpful rather than smothering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-09
Updated: 2013-04-15
Packaged: 2017-12-07 23:36:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/754424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ysabetwordsmith/pseuds/Ysabetwordsmith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce Banner, on the run in America, seeks help from his college lab partner Alex. She is not happy that people have left him in such a shabby state, and decides to get more involved than Bruce intended.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Need Your Help

**Author's Note:**

> This story fills a square on [my second card](http://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/4625911.html) for the fest. This fest encourages people to create and share material focused on what is variously called fluff, schmoop, gentle fiction, light reading, comfort reading, positive thinking, chicken soup for the soul, or anything else that offers a fun alternative to usual run of sex, violence, and angst of modern media. I'm hoping to attract some new readers for my writing.
> 
> The following story belongs to _[Schrodinger's Heroes,](http://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/tag/schrodinger's+heroes)_ featuring an apocryphal television show supported by an imaginary fandom. It's science fiction about quantum physics and saving the world from alternate dimensions. It features a very mixed cast in terms of ethnicity and sexual orientation. This project developed with input from multiple people, and it's open for everyone to play in. You can read more about the background, the characters, and a bunch of assorted content on the [menu page](http://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/1752525.html).
> 
> This is a crossover with the Hulk from _[The Avengers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Avengers_\(2012_film\))_. So it doesn't match up exactly with the various Hulk movies, and Bruce Banner is played by Mark Ruffalo. The story goes into alternate-universe mode after the lab accident while Bruce is running from General Ross but before Bruce meets any of the Avengers.
> 
> There is a sequel, "[Two Spirits, One Past](http://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/9097397.html).

Someone was pounding on the door.

Alex opened it. A disheveled Bruce Banner tumbled into her arms. He reeked of sweat, with the acrid undertone of fear, and his baggy clothes had dirt ground into the knees and elbows. "Oh my God, Bruce! What happened?" she exclaimed.

"Lab accident, a while back," he said. "Alex, I need your help."

"Of course," she said. She pulled him inside for safe keeping and shut the door, locking it securely. "What can I do for you?"

"Some bad people are hunting for me. I need to get away from them," Bruce said. "I'm hoping to cross the border into Mexico without being noticed. Could I borrow your jet?" 

"Yes, if you're sure about that," Alex said. Everything about Bruce shouted _trouble,_ and she didn't want to let it go at that if she could find a better solution. "Let's sit down first and work through this a little more."

Bruce shook his head. "I may not have much time."

"We'll buy you time if necessary," Alex said.

"Against the _Army?"_ he said. 

"The Army is afraid to come here, after some previous incidents left them in rather awkward positions," Alex said. "Anyone from the nearest base would drag their feet over it, and even outsiders would get delayed if they checked in there."

"You're one of the best lab partners I've ever had, Alex," said Bruce. "I won't bring this mess down on my friend." He ran his hands through hair that hadn't seen a comb in days. "I should never have come here. I should just go --"

"You should tell me what's going on, is what you should do," Alex said, steering Bruce firmly into the common room. She sat the two of them on the couch. "Are you hurt?"

He gave a bitter laugh. "No, that's really not a problem for me anymore," he said, but he had his arms wrapped around himself so tightly that they shook.

"Do you have any other immediate physical needs?" Alex asked. Practicalities weren't her strong suit, but her teammates had drilled into her a little checklist for emergencies. She felt very grateful for that just now.

Bruce shrugged. "Safety, I guess, but that's not really an option."

"Of course it is," Alex said. "You're safe here, Bruce, whatever it takes to keep you that way."

"You can't promise that," he said. "You don't know --"

"I _can_ promise that," Alex said, "and _you_ don't know what _I've_ been working on recently either. Do you still trust me?"

He had to think about it. She could _see_ the struggle in his eyes, their old partnership weighed against some more recent betrayal. Alex began to get some very ugly suspicions about what brought Bruce to her door. Finally he whispered, "Yes."

"Then believe me when I say that you are safe here, and entropy itself couldn't drag you out of my protection," Alex said.

"Safe," Bruce said, and then he launched himself at her, burrowing into her lap. 

Alex held him and rocked him. She could feel him trembling. She could also feel the hard, sharp edges of his shoulderblades under her hands, and further down, the slatted ladder of his ribs. Bruce hadn't been getting enough to eat, not for a long time, or else he'd run off more calories than he could consume. She murmured a soothing litany of, "Hush, you're safe now, no one will get you here."

It took a while for the muffled sobs to subside. Alex decided that whoever was responsible for this was about to have a _very bad day,_ once she found out the name or names behind it. In the meantime, she needed to take care of Bruce. 

"Can you tell me more about what happened to you?" Alex asked.

He took a deep, shuddering breath. "I was working with gamma rays, you know, the usual and -- and some other stuff, top secret stuff," he said. "There was an accident. That was -- then I turned into a monster. Still do, when I lose control. People call him the Hulk. I just call him the Other Guy. He does a lot of damage when he takes over, so I try to hold him in. I don't like being a monster."

Alex shook her head. "You are not a monster," she said. "You're one of the gentlest people I know, and that's a very respectable set these days."

"You don't understand. I, I just --" his voice choked off. After a minute he managed to continue, "I killed people, Alex."

"What were they doing to you?" she demanded, a sharp edge in her tone.

"What? It doesn't _matter_ what -- Alex, I _killed people."_

"Bruce Banner, I know you. You may have a bitter temper, but you have never once to my knowledge aimed it at an innocent victim," Alex said firmly. "Now you tell me: _what were they doing to you?"_

"Hunting me, most of them. Trying to kill me, or capture me -- it's hard to remember. I only have these flashes in my head, like scenes caught by a strobe light." Bruce admitted. "There were some civilian casualties, though. So I did kill innocent victims."

"Bruce, if somebody shoots at you and hits a bystander instead, that is not your fault," Alex said.

"Some of the casualties were at my hands, very literally, when the Other Guy wrecked buildings," Bruce said. He pulled back from Alex and stared down at his hands as if expecting to see blood. 

What Alex saw was how thin they were, and the fine tremor making his fingertips dance in the air. She caught his hands in hers and said, "Did you hurt innocent people on purpose?"

"No, but --"

"Would you have avoided them getting hurt if it had been in your power?" she insisted.

"Of course, but --"

"Then it's _not your fault,"_ Alex declared. "Bruce, sometimes people do bad things and others get hurt because of it, but you need to put the blame where it _belongs_. Now, who started this fulminating fiasco?"


	2. How Far Do You Trust Them?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce asks Alex to help him get out of the country. Alex thinks he needs rather more help than that, and calls for backup.

"General Thaddeus Ross," Bruce said. "He, um, never liked me because I was dating his daughter -- Dr. Betty Ross was my lab partner. You'd like her, Alex, she's smart and funny and she doesn't put up with nonsense from anyone. Well, after the accident, General Ross declared me army property and -- it got bad." Bruce stared off into the distance, silent for a long moment.

Alex nudged him gently to bring him out of the memory. "What else happened, Bruce?"

He shook himself. "General Ross caught me a few times, locked me up, ran some unpleasant experiments," Bruce said. "I've managed to escape so far, and keep ahead of him, but he's getting better at this. I need more room to run. I need to get out of the country, Alex. You said you'd help."

"All right, I'm feeling a need for some backup here," Alex said, watching Bruce carefully for his reaction. "Would you mind if I asked my friends to join us here in the common room?"

Bruce eyed her suspiciously. "These 'friends' of yours ... how far do you trust them?" he asked.

"With the biosphere of the Earth, the handwriting of God, and all hope of humanity," Alex replied without hesitation.

"O-okay," Bruce said, his voice high and a little too fast. "Okay."

Alex activated the comm and said, "Houston, we have a problem. It's urgent but not an emergency at this moment. I've got a friend here who needs our help. Tim, I want you in the Teferact control room. Bring up the Alpha Vector in case we need a safe jump on short notice. Everyone else, please come to the common room."

The rest of the team arrived quickly: coppery Ash in her Homeland Security t-shirt with Geronimo's band on the front and her laptop in hand, darker Pat and lighter Bailey emerging from a repair job in the kitchen with tools still in hand, with fair Chris right behind them wiping his hands on a towel. Morgan came next, busy on his palmtop computer, followed by Quinn, whose hair today was an absurd shade of blue. Alex's cat Shrodinger slipped through the door alongside Quinn, sniffed at Bruce's shoelace, then hopped into his lap and purred loudly.

Kay arrived last, clearly having paused to shrug into a bulletproof vest and grab a rifle. "What's the major malfunction?" she asked.

Bruce flinched hard, pressing himself against Alex as he hissed, "You _said_ no army, you _promised_ \--"

"Kay is retired, Bruce, she works here now," Alex said. "Kay, you're on security; keep a sharp eye on the perimeter."

"Okay, Alex," Kay said. She trotted out of the room.

Bruce relaxed a little where he pressed against Alex. She was glad that Kay had picked up the situation quickly enough to give a casual reply instead of a military one. "Sorry about that, Bruce, I should've thought to put Kay on watch instead of bringing her in here," Alex said.

"It's fine," Bruce said. Schrodinger butted imperiously against his hand. Bruce obeyed the implicit command to stroke the cat.

"Okay, Bruce, these are Schrodinger's Heroes --" Alex began.

"Who's Schrodinger?" Bruce asked.

"You're petting him," Alex said. "As for the rest of us: I do theory, Ash does software, Bailey does hardware. Kay and Chris are muscle. Pat's our social guy. Quinn keeps us level when the world goes weird, which happens a lot around here." She clapped her hands briskly. "Everybody, this is my friend and college lab partner, Dr. Bruce Banner."

_"The_ Dr. Banner?" Morgan said, his jaw dropping. "Author of _An Analysis of Gamma-Ray Bursts and Mass Extinction Events?_ I'm so honored to meet you in person!"

Bruce stared at him. "I, um, Betty and I never finished that paper. It's not published. How could you possibly have read it?" 

"I guess things must have turned out better for you in my old dimension than here," Morgan said. "It sounds like somebody managed to shoot scientific progress in the foot."

"That would be me," Bruce said.

"That would be General Thaddeus Ross," Alex corrected, and went on to summarize for the team what Bruce had told her about his situation.

"So you're running for your life, and you've decided that Mexico is your next step," Ash said to Bruce. _"¿Cuánto español habla usted?"_

"Uh ... _solamente un poquito,"_ Bruce admitted.

"You might want to consider other options," Ash said.

"That's my cue," Alex said. "So, my latest project opened a fluctuating gate between dimensions. We have it _mostly_ under control now." She brought out a portable terminal for the Teferact and flicked it on. A shimmering blue doorway appeared briefly in the center of the room, and then winked out. "If anything goes badly wrong here, you push that button and duck through. It goes to a safe place where I can find you later." Alex handed the terminal to Bruce. "It's more stable to manage access from the main consoles, but I want _you_ to have control of this, for sake of your own confidence. Okay?"

Bruce looked down at the terminal, then back up at Alex. "It's a tesseract?" he said softly. "You actually managed to build a _tesseract?"_ He whooped and grabbed Alex, hugging all the air out of her for a moment. "You crazy genius, you!" 

He was grinning, the old wild grin that she remembered from their college days. It hurt Alex's heart to see how little it matched the lines etched into his face. "That wasn't really the effect I was going for, but yes," she said.  
"Sometimes the unexpected happens, and we just have to make the best of it."

"That's funny," Bruce quoted, and Alex said "Oops," and Morgan said, "Not _eureka,"_ and all the scientists cracked up laughing.

Then Bruce ran out of energy rather abruptly and sagged back against the couch cushions. "Excitement isn't too good for me," he said.

"When was the last time you ate?" Pat asked.

"I don't know ... yesterday, maybe?" Bruce said with a shrug.

"I'll be right back; I just need to grab a few things," Pat said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Notes:**
> 
> _"¿Cuánto español habla usted?"_ \-- "How much Spanish do you speak?"
> 
> _"solamente un poquito."_ \-- "only a little."


	3. The Monster in This Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce and Schrodinger's Heroes discuss the threat posed by General Ross.

"I don't want to put you to any trouble, really --" said Bruce.

"You're not. This place brings the trouble right to us," Bailey assured him.

"I did kind of break the universe," Alex said. "I patched it up as best I could, but it still ... um, leaks sometimes."

Bruce blinked at her. "I guess I should stop complaining about my lab accident," he said slowly.

"No comparing victimization and trying to guess who had it worse," Ash said. "That never helps."

Pat came back. "First, this is our standard scrambag; keep it with you in case anything goes wrong," he said as he set down a large duffelbag. "It contains a generous selection of survival gear, food, and other necessities. If you need to drop weight for speed's sake, unzip this end --" he demonstrated "-- and this backpack comes out with a smaller set of supplies. Lighten again and you're left with a fannypack of just the bare essentials; try really hard not to lose that."

Bruce flicked a nervous glance around the room and then bent down to lift the duffel. "I can carry it all," he said in a low tone. "I get a little spillover even when I'm just me, so I'm stronger than I look."

"Moving right along, I suggest that you eat something while you can," Pat said. He held out a bottle of juice and a can of vienna sausages.

Alex wondered why in the world Pat would hand a guest snack food instead of fixing a decent meal. Then she saw Bruce slowly rubbing his thumb over the bottlecap.

"I won't be offended if you check the seals," Pat said. "In fact, I _actively encourage_ you to check the seals."

Bruce tested the bottlecap and gave the lid of the can a discriminating tap. Then he opened both and started stuffing himself. "Thank you," he said with his mouth full.

"We have two linked problems here: dealing with General Ross, and protecting Bruce," said Bailey.

"Once I go, he'll leave you alone," Bruce said.

"That won't make him any less of a problem," Bailey said. "He'll just cause trouble somewhere else."

"I don't like this Ross character," Chris said. "Sounds like he's the one who puts the chrome plating on all the Grade-A clusterfucks." 

Bruce smiled at that, just a little. "Yeah, he's good at that." Bruce swallowed the last of his snack, then said, "I just need to get away from him."

"I never expected to find myself working on the Underground Railroad, but if this compound needs to turn Station, I surely will do my part," Pat said.

"It's not like that," Bruce said. "General Ross just has it in for me personally."

"He refers to you, a person, as _army property_. He conducts experiments on you. He tries to use your body for his own ends. He locks you up, and hunts you down when you run away, using institutional means to do it," Pat said bluntly. "That is slavery, Bruce, and _it is not okay."_

"It's not really the same thing --" Bruce mumbled.

"Yes, it is," Chris said. "Lotta good men died in a war over this, once. I don't aim to stand by and let it happen again."

"I just need to get over the border to Mexico," Bruce said. "I'm sure I'll be safe there."

"You've already said that General Ross is obsessed with you," Ash pointed out. "He wants what he wants, and he doesn't care who gets hurt in the process. You really think a border will stop him? People with that mindset don't stop for borders. They don't stop for anything. That way lies invasion and genocide, if they go far enough. I won't stand for that either."

"Think about it, Bruce," Alex said more gently. "If General Ross is that mean to you, how do you imagine he treats other people?"

"Betty refuses to have anything to do with him," Bruce admitted. "They'd been estranged for years before he hunted her down when I --"

_"Hunted_ her," Pat said.

"Oh my God," Bruce said, "you guys, you, you're _right."_

"It seems to me that the monster in this story isn't the man in my lap," Alex said to him.

"You can't just kill him," Bruce said.

"We don't kill people except as an absolute last resort," Alex said. "We have other options. We're the gatekeepers for this dimension; we can toss him out for bad behavior. We could put him somewhere he can't hurt anyone else."

"That seems a little extreme," Bruce said. "I mean, he hasn't committed any actionable crimes that I know of --"

"Stalking, reckless endangerment, kidnapping, assault, human experimentation, torture," Ash said at once. "Shall I go on?"

"Please don't," Bruce said.

"Sometimes the Teferact's effects are strictly localized, other times not so much. There's a dimension not terribly far from here where white people are considered property," Pat pointed out. "I'm sure there are others where the South won the Civil War -- you want to risk General Ross making contact with somewhere like that?"

"Or hell, hooking up with my fool cousins at the local KKK," Chris said. "In this part of the world, you don't have to look far to find that kind of trouble."

"Something else to consider: how much of a threat is General Ross to other people out of the ordinary?" Ash asked. "Is this really a personal issue, or would he go after anyone else with your qualities, or worse, anyone who had something he decided that he wanted?"

"He hates me a lot, so that makes it worse," Bruce said. "I wouldn't trust him with anyone, though, not really. He is pretty grabby in general."

"Tim," said Alex. That was worrisome.

Quinn just laughed. "That would give a whole new meaning to the game of laser tag," he said. "Tim doesn't miss."


	4. We're the Gatekeepers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce and Schrodinger's Heroes discuss the danger posed by General Ross, along with some other challenges facing Bruce, and what might be done about all that stuff.

"Don't underestimate General Ross," Bruce said quickly. "He is a very credible threat."

"Credible, yes. Competent, not so much, by my book," Alex said. "I won't dismiss him as harmless, but Bruce -- Tim and Morgan are working on plans for a _starship_. We have him very much outgunned no matter what conventional armament he brings along."

"He could kill you all," Bruce said.

"He could _try,"_ Chris said. "We've had a powerful lot of black hats try that before. You'll notice how we're still here and they ain't."

Bruce perked up a bit at that. "That is encouraging," he said.

"All right, Ash, you leveled some charges based on what Bruce said. Is there corroboration for any of that?" Alex asked.

Ash turned her laptop around. "All that and more," she said coldly. "These are clips from the material less uncomfortable for Bruce." 

The screen filled with explosions. This was the _less_ uncomfortable material? Alex wondered how much worse the _more_ uncomfortable clips must be. 

"I'm thinking General Ross is a waste of perfectly good carbon atoms that could be put to better use elsewhere," Morgan said.

"Also, Betty Ross has filed for a restraining order against her father twelve times, in twelve different states. He's blocked every one through bribery, threats, political manipulaton, or some other means," Ash went on. "I've taken the liberty of correcting that in accordance with Miss Ross' wishes, and I've discreetly sent some evidence to appropriate authorities."

"Those, um, those are secure files," Bruce said, staring at Ash's laptop. "Encrypted, even."

"Not really," Ash said, "but it's amazing what people will say and do when they think nobody will ever find out and hold them responsible for it."

Bruce huddled against Alex, trembling again. "Yeah, amazing," he said, "but what right do you have to do anything about it?"

"As I said before, we're the gatekeepers. We guard the place where this world touches others -- me because I made it happen, everyone else because they stepped up when Earth needed them," Alex said. "History always comes down to the choices made by the people present whenever a crisis occurs. For our credentials, I present the continued existence of the Earth, intact and free of outside invasion. Contrast that against the guy who seems not to have read the Thirteenth Amendment and the Geneva Protocols."

Bruce sighed. "Point," he said.

"All in favor of voting Thaddeus Ross off the planet?" Alex asked.

Hands went up around the room.

Suddenly Bruce's left hand went up. "That -- that wasn't me," he stammered, trying to pry it down again with his right hand.

"Hulk votes in favor," Alex noted. "What about you, Bruce?"

He frowned, a delicate crease between his eyebrows. "We get separate votes?"

"You have two spirits. You get two votes," Ash said, backing Alex up.

Bruce managed to fold his hands back into his lap. He rocked nervously from side to side. "Um ... abstain," he mumbled.

"The ayes have it," Alex declared. "Thaddeus Ross is hereby voted off the planet, to be transported into safely uninhabited territory if he makes his nonsense our direct problem."

"And on the admittedly slim chance that he doesn't?" Bruce asked.

"We don't start fights," Chris said. "We just _finish_ 'em."

"If he doesn't provoke a direct conflict, we'll restrict ourselves to more subtle pursuits of justice, such as shining some light on his copious misdeeds," Alex said. "We can neutralize his career without restorting to violence. Catch is, that won't solve your whole problem."

"I know that," Bruce said. "I'm still a monster."

"Will you _stop saying that?"_ Alex said, throwing her hands in the air.

"Not helping, Alex," Quinn said quietly. "Bruce, I understand that people have been tormenting you, but adopting their language is not a good response. You'll tear yourself apart that way."

"You don't understand!" Bruce snapped. Alex could feel the tension in his body increase. "You know _nothing about this."_

"What makes you think you're the only person here with an alter ego?" Quinn asked.

"... what?" Bruce said, startled out of his tirade. He always had tended to stumble when something went off the expected script. It made social situations awkward for him. Alex could sympathize.

"I'm a man, but I was born with a female body," Quinn explained. "So I do, in fact, know what it's like to be called a monster, to be chased by people who want to hurt me, to be beaten up for no better reason than being what I am, and to be treated as a nonperson. When I say that buying into other people's bullshit labels and hating on yourself will tear you apart, I speak from very concrete personal experience as well as observation of friends in similar situations. I'd really rather not see that again."

"You haven't killed anyone," Bruce said. "That's what really makes me a monster."

"I haven't," Quinn said.

"I have," Chris said. "Man come through from some other world, tried to kill Pat -- who I didn't even know at the time -- so I put a bullet in him. Kay may have finished him off, but I know what I hit. He wasn't gonna heal from that. Killin's not what makes a monster -- some people _need_ killin' -- hate's what makes a monster, hurtin' folks without any reason for."

"We don't judge people by their appearance or circumstance. We judge by their choices," Bailey said. "We've had some hard lessons about that. Also, Schrodinger likes you, and he's a surprisingly good judge of character."


	5. Hard to Hide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Schrodinger's Heroes relate some feline wisdom. Bruce describes General Ross' fighting style. And Morgan proposes a more drastic solution to the problems at hand.

At the sound of his name, the black cat stood up briefly, rubbed his head under Bruce's chin, then curled up in his lap again. "He's very relaxing," Bruce said. "That's ... good. I need to stay relaxed, and not get angry."

"Being a cat is relaxing," Chris said.

"How would you know?" Bruce asked.

"Oh, we've all gotten turned into cats a few times," Chris said. "I'm a cream tabby, Alex is kind of a smooth champagne color, Bailey is a brown tabby, Morgan's a calico ..."

"Sometimes the Teferact imports traits from other dimensions and imposes them on the core team in this eigenspace," Alex explained. "It took me a while to work out the equations to change us all back."

"... while you were a cat," Bruce said.

"Well, nobody _else_ was going to figure it out," Alex said.

"I _really_ need to stop complaining about my lab accident," Bruce muttered.

"I wonder what kind of cat General Ross would turn into," Ash mused.

"Pole," Chris said instantly, and Ash burst out laughing.

"What?" Bruce said, frowning in confusion. Science he knew quite thoroughly, but his grasp of slang was more erratic.

"Polecat," Ash explained, "a skunk."

Bruce chuckled. "Yeah. That figures."

"So we'll deal with him, and he won't be able to bother you anymore," Ash said.

"You don't have to," Bruce said. "I just feel like I'm dumping a problem on you." 

"That's what we're here for," Ash said.

"Bruce ... you survived a lab accident, escaped from a psychotic general, made your way to a trusted friend, and warned us about said psycho," said Alex. "Now you think you're being a Disney princess because you couldn't solve the whole mess _all_ by yourself?"

"Well, when you put it like that, I guess I didn't do too badly," Bruce admitted.

"You wanna help, tell us his strengths and weaknesses," Chris said. "That Ross sounds about as dumb as a box of hammers, but that doesn't make him harmless."

"Okay," Bruce said. He pulled his glasses off and polished them on his shirttail, which Alex noted wasn't much cleaner. "He's suspicious and touchy. He doesn't trust people, which means he doesn't always listen to the help he gets. He loves heavy artillery and a frontal assault. He can set up a devious plan, but it'll be somebody else's plan made to his order. He _really_ knows weaponry. He's very effective at destroying targets. He's tough -- you could back a truck over him, and he'd get up to tear off the bumper with his teeth. Sometimes he'll come in soft, though, if he thinks he can convince people to go along with him. He lies without hesitation, but he's easy to fool. I think he just doesn't have a good grip on the truth anymore, if he ever did." Bruce put his glasses back on. "And yes, General Ross is as dumb as a box of hammers. _Plastic_ ones."

Chris roared with laughter. Alex just savored the small impish smile on her friend's face.

"What about other people besides General Ross?" Bailey prompted. "Does he keep the same troop or switch around? Are they devoted to him personally, or just following orders? How much official contact or backup does he usually have?"

"He has a core group of people who ... like what he lets them do," Bruce said. "Those have accrued over time, and you don't want them to catch you. They're dangerous people. He can get extra soldiers if wants them, but he prefers seasoned men who don't ask questions. He's still connected with the Army but ... he's very invested in plausible deniability, so he's kind of on the fringes. Sometimes his superiors try to hobble him with soldiers who will refuse illegal or unethical orders. General Ross doesn't hesitate to divert them so he can still do what he pleases and claim all the glory for himself."

Ash gave a frigid little laugh. "Let's hope he sends Reno and Benteen the long way around, then," she said. "We can get rid of him _and_ his sadistic cavalry."

"I, um, don't recall those names from General Ross' personnel," Bruce said.

"Historical reference," Pat said. "Ash just compared Ross to the dumbest officer in American history."

"Can't argue with that one," Bruce said.

Alex viewed the conversation like a field of vortex trails in a cloud chamber, circles and spirals and veering tangents. Then she gathered the threads and said, "All right, we have direct and indirect plans for dealing with General Ross. Now let's discuss options for keeping Bruce safe. He asked for help getting to Mexico, which I'm willing to provide -- but I'm not sure that will suffice."

"It should be plenty, especially with General Ross out of the picture," Bruce said.

"You'll need papers, not just a plane ride," Quinn said. "We know someone who's good at forgery, but it would take a little time -- hours, maybe a day to get Midge here and make what you need."

"Yeah, that would help," Bruce said.

"Based on the records I cracked into, General Ross and his troop of thugs are not the only people who know about the results of your lab accident," Ash observed.

"Well, yeah ... the Other Guy is kinda hard to hide," Bruce said.

"I could, with some effort, wipe all the electronic records. Human minds are a different story. So there would probably still be people who could threaten you, even if Ross did get himself kicked off the planet," Ash said.

Bruce sighed. "I guess I didn't think about that part. We'll have to factor them into the equation."

"Or we could simply go _around_ the whole problem," Morgan said quietly. "You could consider leaving this dimension altogether."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ash's snide reference is to George Armstrong Custer dividing his forces for the [Battle of Greasy Grass Creek / Little Bighorn](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn). A common interpretation is that he sought to keep all the glory for himself.


	6. What Parameters Would You Want?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce explores the possibility of leaving his home dimension.

"Leave the _dimension,"_ Bruce said, "and go ... where?"

"We could find one very similar to this," Morgan said. "Alex ran a search like that to find me, after her Morgan died in a car crash."

"What parameters would you want, hypothetically speaking?" Alex asked.

"I don't know. Give me some examples?" Bruce said.

"Well, dimensions where you don't already exist, for starters," Alex said. "Also dimensions without General Ross -- where he already died, or was never born. Dimensions where we have a Teflon Tesseract like this, so we can help keep you safe. That sort of thing."

Ash tapped at her laptop, following the list.

"I need somewhere I can continue my research," Bruce said.

"That comes with the Tef," Alex said. 

"Dimensions where Betty Ross is alive and single?" Bruce said tentatively. "If I can fix this, I'd like to see her again someday."

"If you move to a dimension where you're not being hunted, you could invite her to help. She was your lab partner, after all," Morgan said.

Bruce shook his head. "I don't want to drag her into this mess. Besides, she probably wouldn't want me ... like this."

"Then she doesn't deserve you," Alex said.

"Don't you _talk_ about her that way!" Bruce snapped.

"Sorry," Alex said. 

"Just don't underestimate Betty, even alter!Betty," said Pat. "Give her a chance to meet you and decide whether to help. Avoiding all potential for conflict will, first, leave you running for the rest of your life; and, second, greatly reduce your quality of life."

"For me, conflict now tends to end with hulking great holes in the wall," Bruce said.

"Then you'll need to work on that," Pat said firmly.

Ash's laptop chirped. "I've sent the parameters to Tim in the control room. We're searching nearby vectors for a possible match," she said. Alex motioned for Ash to pass over the laptop, which Ash did. Alex typed something and handed it back.

Bruce was watching Morgan, not Ash. He leaned a little away from Alex and asked, "What's it ... like?"

"It hurts, leaving your home dimension and everyone you ever knew, but sometimes it's better than the alternatives," Morgan said gravely.

"Oh," said Bruce. He leaned back against Alex.

"It's an excellent opportunity, though," Quinn said.

"Think logically about your options and your goals," Bailey said. "Work the problem just like you would in the lab."

"Don't forget to consult your feelings," Pat said. "You need to feel secure with whatever you choose."

"Good advice," Ash said, working on her laptop again. "We're starting to see some matches here ... not too bad ... oh! That one looks great."

"Alex? What do you think?" Bruce asked.

He was warm and solid in her grasp, and she wished that she could keep him there. She answered honestly anyhow. "I think it's a good plan," she said, though her throat crimped around the words. "I value you as a friend, Bruce, and I'd hate to see you go ... but I want you alive and happy more than I want you with me. You deserve to live without being hunted, and jumping dimensions would enable that. This is where it all started. Too many people know too much here. Somewhere else, you could have a fresh start. If I need to send you away for safe keeping, then that's what I'll do."

"I just ... don't know," Bruce said. "At least here I've got contacts, I know some places to go, I can draw on my prior experience ..."

"Much of that carries over," Morgan assured him. "The languages will be the same, along with most of the terrain and structures. All the laws of physics will be the same, so your experience still applies."

Bruce stared at him. "The laws of physics can't _change!"_

Everyone laughed. "We turned into _cats,_ remember?" said Chris.

"The laws of physics may not change, but our understanding of them seems to be incomplete in the face of recently acquired data," Morgan said.

"Yeah, I know how that goes," Bruce said. "I'm still trying to figure out how I could possibly gain about a ton in a few seconds."

"That almost has to be energy-to-mass conversion," Alex said.

"But there's no energy source," Bruce argued.

"You said that you took a direct hit from a gamma burst that should have killed you," Alex said. "Supposed it didn't go _through_ you and out the back. Suppose it went _inside_ you, into a pocket universe somehow, and it manifests like that periodically?"

"So he's kind of like a quasar with an erratic cycle ..." Morgan said.

Bruce tilted his head. "That ... could be worth running a simulation," Bruce said.

"Ah, we're doing it again, going off on a tangent. I'll miss that," Alex said.

"So will I," Bruce said.

"No, you can still do that with alter!Alex. I know, she won't have my memories of spending time with you, but Bruce -- she's still _me_. She's just me in another world, another life. All you have to do is activate a friendship that's already a proven match. So I've written her a note asking her to take care of you for me, and I'll send it if you decide to go through with this."

"It does work," Morgan said. "This team isn't my first team, but we're all still _'ohana_. I'm not even the same sex as their Morgan, and my life back there got a lot more messed up, but I fit right in here anyway."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _'ohana_ \-- Hawai'ian for "[family](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohana)," both by blood and by choice.


	7. You've Survived Worse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce makes a run for it.

"You're strong, Bruce," Quinn said. "You've survived worse with less backup."

Bruce twitched. "What makes you say that? You don't even _know_ me."

"The way you move, the way you dress, the way you talk," Quinn said with a shrug. "You don't need to explain anything, and I don't even need to send myself a note. Alter!Quinn will see it too. You're a survivor. You'd manage fine on your own. With some support from friends, you'll do great."

"Yeah, I'm a _terrific_ success story," Bruce said sourly.

"You're still alive, so yes, you are," Quinn said, not backing down.

Bruce looked away. "Whatever. I don't want to fight about it."

"Of course, Bruce. I'm trying to lift you up, not cut you down," Quinn said.

"I should go," Bruce said softly. "You've all made good points. I don't really want to leave but ... the life I had here is already wrecked. I can't go back to it, no matter how much I wish I could. Yeah. Let's do this."

"All right, you said that you had contacts and plans. Let's explore some of that in case you need any of it. We can cross-reference things in the destination dimension," Alex said.

They weren't ten minutes into that process when they were interrupted.

"Perimeter contact," Kay said over the comm. "Block or pass?"

Bruce picked up the duffelbag and nodded.

"Let them pass, Kay," said Alex. 

"Acknowledged," Kay said.

Everyone crowded around to wish Bruce well. "Finish the paper," Morgan whispered into his ear. "In my dimension, Dr. Banner won a Nobel for it." Bruce was too stunned to reply before Morgan passed him on to Alex.

Alex hugged Bruce goodbye. "Core!me misses you already, Bruce. Alter!me looks forward to meeting you," she said. "Just ... be safe, old friend."

"I will be, thanks to you," Bruce said. He pushed the button on the terminal, and the air rippled into a portal. He handed the terminal to Alex. Then he turned to go.

"I hear choppers," Ash said.

Bruce paused, the duffelbag swaying slightly in his grip.

"Don't look back," Morgan said.

"I never do," Bruce said. He stepped through the shimmering portal and vanished.

Alex turned away, and then a flare of not-quite-light blotted out her vision for an instant.

_Bruce stepping out of a portal into the Tef._

_Greetings, introductions. Bruce shaking hands with Alex. Alex pulling a startled Bruce into a hug._

_Kay keeping watch. Bruce acknowledging her with a cautious nod._

"Hey, Alex, are you all right?" Quinn asked. He had an arm around her shoulders.

She shook her head, trying to clear her vision, then said, "Yes, I'm fine, or I will be. Just give me a minute." The glare was fading. The headache it left behind was less than usual.

"You flashed again, didn't you?" Quinn asked.

"Yes, I was thinking a little too much about quantum mechanics, we opened portals, and Bruce is kind of an anomaly," Alex said. They had all picked up some weird psychic abilities as a result of one incident. She had _mostly_ gotten rid of that, but sometimes things randomly returned for a brief moment. "I saw Bruce arrive. He'll be fine. He'll be _safe."_

"That's the important thing," Quinn agreed.

They settled on the couch to rest, but it didn't last long.

Someone was pounding on the door again. Alex opened it. A craggy man in an army uniform stood there, backed by several burly soldiers.

Alex bared her teeth in what a particularly dull person might have mistaken for a smile. Between her ankles, Schrodinger hissed. "General Ross," Alex said with a graceful sweep of her hand, "come into my parlor."

* * *  
 **Epilogue**

"I was assured that you were a better technical consultant than Tony Stark, and that you could deal with any challenges put forth by the _cute little girls_ whose skirts Banner decided to hide behind this time," said General Ross. 

"Working on it as we speak ..."

"Are you any closer to getting us the fuck _home?"_ General Ross snarled at his hapless consultant. All around lay an empty, grassy plain in which the soldiers huddled together around their commanding officer. Butterflies fluttered above a patch of wildflowers.

"Uh, yes sir, any minute now," said the mousy little man. He adjusted his black-framed glasses and then pushed a button.

Reality flickered, bounced off the Teferact's firewall, and crashed hard. Wind howled and snow drove into the thin desert fatigues of the troop. 

General Ross heaved himself to his feet. He glared around at the hilly terrain with its raging blizzard. Then he reached down and lifted his consultant by the collar. "Tony Stark could have done better than this," he roared, "in a _cave,_ with a _box of scraps!"_

"I-I -- I'm not Tony Stark," Justin Hammer confessed in a tiny voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of the [epilogue lines](http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Iron_Man_\(film\)%20) come from the movie _[Iron Man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Man_\(film\))_.  [General Ross](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_Ross) is from Hulk fandom.  [Justin Hammer](http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0066439/) is from _[Iron Man 2](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Man_2)_.   Just some jerks I felt like bouncing off a wall.


End file.
